The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police have found that the two brothers of former Awami League MP Abdur Rahman Bodi are ‘godfathers’ in the drug trade in Cox’s Bazar.

They acquired huge amounts of wealth, including land, houses and cars, by trafficking narcotics, the CID investigation revealed.

The two brothers are Abdus Shukur and Aminur Rahman.

The CID identified a total of ten people who became ‘godfathers’ in the drug trade, said unit chief and Additional Inspector General of Police Mohammad Ali Mia at a media briefing in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Responding to a question about Bodi’s brothers, Ali said, “The investigation against them is still underway. More assets are being found under their names.”

Bodi served as a Cox’s Bazar-4 MP for two terms from 2008 to 2018 after being elected as chairman of the Teknaf Municipality in 2002. The names of 10 people, including Bodi, his brothers, brothers-in-law, uncles and nephews, appeared in a list prepared by the Narcotics Control Department in 2014.

Akhter Kamal, a relative of Bodi who reportedly died in a gunfight with law enforcement agencies amid an anti-drug crackdown in 2018, was a member of Ward No. 3 of Teknaf Upazila’s Sabrang Union council. He was wanted in five cases related to human and drug trafficking.

The ruling Awami League nominated Bodi’s wife Shahin Akter over him during the general elections in 2018 amid backlash for Bodi’s name frequently appearing in connection with the drug trade. Shahin was also elected as an MP in the 12th national elections.

Bodi had to serve jail time as well after being sentenced in a case by the Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing illegal wealth. He later appealed to the High Court and secured bail.

The CID began to investigate a total of 35 drug cases after 2020. The total amount of the assets of the 'godfathers' named in these cases is about Tk 1.78 billion, the police unit said.

“In three cases out of the 35, a total of 9.18 acres of land, two houses worth Tk 80 million owned by the accused ‘godfathers’ have been seized through a court order. Around Tk 10 million deposited by them in banks has also been frozen in a money-laundering case. Efforts are underway to seize another 35 acres of land worth Tk 370 million, 12 houses and a car,” Ali said.

“At first, the CID dug deep into the drug-oriented money-laundering cases. Later the police unit was able to identify and bring the drug traders and godfathers to book and seize their wealth and freeze money accumulated in banks.”

On average, around 80,000 drug cases are filed in Bangladesh each year. Around 79,675 drug cases were filed in 2021, 82,672 in 2022 and 76,403 in 2023, the CID chief said, citing data from police headquarters.